Thursday, 28 February 2013

The downs? On bad days I feel like I'm flailing around chasing my tail and pissing in the wind (and that gets really messy).

The ups? My office is silent save for the tweet of Twitter and the whining of the dog if I haven't got around to walking her.

And the even better ups?

On Pig in the Kitchen baking days, my office (which doubles as my photography studio) smells amazing! And I get to leave my laptop and fiddle around with my beautiful camera and little twiddly bits of ribbon and pretty material.

Bliss.

Today is an up day and the office smells fab. I would invite you over to sample the muffins, but then you'd spoil the silence in my house and I might end up hating you.

Monday, 11 February 2013

In 1982, parts of the Mary Rose (old ship, belonged to Henry
VIII, sank somewhere in the Solent while trying to attack the French) were raised from the seabed. This was a complicated operation that took at
least a whole day, probably more.

How do I know this?

Because my Mum had the TV on all day as she watched, fascinated. Bearing in mind we only had
about one TV channel in those days, to my young mind it was entirely
unreasonable to hog the TV in this manner. For something so utterly boring.

In fact I remember looking at my Mum and wondering how she
could possibly find it interesting.

So here's how I know I'm definitely old.

Because last week they announced that the bones they'd found
in a car park in Leicester were those of Richard III, the last Plantagenet king
of England and the last king to be
killed in battle.

Well.

Have you ever heard anything so fascinating?

I spent the whole day being very fascinated and even stayed
up late to watch the documentary detailing how they found the bones. (And Philippa Langley should definitely be made a dame )

And my kids? All day they heard, "But it's really him!
Isn't that amazing?"

To give them their due, they were far more interested than I
was in the Mary Rose.

But I'm not so sure they're going to enjoy spending their precious half term visiting the temporary exhibition at The Guildhall in Leicester and
then a trip to Bosworth Battlefield.

But they have to.
This is fascinating!Can you believe
it's really him?!

And yes, I'm definitely old and probably a bit boring. Sigh.

I'm planning the educational trips to coincide with Shrove
Tuesday. At least when they're shivering on the battlefield in Bosworth and
watching their mother in raptures over an empty field, they can console
themselves with the thought of pancakes.

Enjoy Shrove Tuesday my darlings! May the force of Richard
be with you!

Gluten free Buckwheat Pancakes

If you have a pre-mixed gluten free flour, like Doves Farm, use
150g and omit the rice flour and cornflour.

Because pre-mixed GF flour usually
contains xanthan gum, it might be worth mixing the flour, egg/egg replacer and
milk together and then seeing how 'gummy' the batter is. If you think it needs
a little help, add the xanthan gum ¼ tsp at a time.

Mix up the 'no egg' with the rice milk and whisk until all the lumps are
gone. Add the 2 tbsp of oil

Put the flours and xanthan gum into a large mixing bowl, stir until
thoroughly mixed together

Make a bit of a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the 'no egg'
and oil (or one egg). Pour in 800ml of rice milk (add the extra 50ml later if
you think the mix is too thick; you may not need it) and mix vigorously until
everything is combined. Whisk it until there are no lumps and it's bubbly on
the surface

Leave for about 20 mins if possible, the mixture will thicken a little.
The kind of consistency you are aiming for is something approaching double
cream...or double cream merging into single cream. You know what? I don't think
the consistency is a deal breaker...if it's too thick you'll have lovely stodgy
pancakes, if it's too thin...you'll have thin pancakes, and you could always sieve
in a tbsp extra of rice flour.

When your pancake batter is ready, take apancake pan (and
yes, they really are better than regular frying pans...just nip out and buy
one, slot it under 'household expenditure' in your budget, and you don't need
to feel the least bit guilty) and put it on the hob on a low-medium heat

Pour about 4 tbsp of oil into a small bowl and place the small bowl onto
a plate. Take some kitchen towel, scrunch it up and dip it into the oil, now
smear it around your pancake pan, to leave an oily film over the surface of the
pan. Put the kitchen towel back onto the plate, you'll need to repeat the
pan-oiling manoeuvre for the next pancake

Here comes the bit I find tricky; the temperature of the pan. You don't
want the oil to be smoking, but it must be quite hot. It generally takes me a
few pancakes before the pan and I are working in perfect harmony

When you think the pan is hot enough, take a ladle of pancake batter.
Lift the pan off the heat and start to pour in the batter. As soon as the
batter hits the pan, gently incline the pan and rotate it at the same time so
that the batter starts to spread and run into a perfect circle shape. If it
looks more like a starfish, it really doesn't matter

Once the batter has stopped running and is beginning to set, place the
pan back on the heat for about 30 seconds. The edges should go crispy and the
middle will start to thicken and develop bubbles on the surface

As the edges crisp, take a blunt knife and gently slide it under the
edges of the pancake to loosen them. Once the edges are free, slide your knife
/ silicone spatula / whatever all the way under the pancake to loosen it. Give
the pan a shake or two, and hopefully soon, the pancake will be released and
will slide around the pan when you shake it. When it's ready, it should be
lightly browned on the underside

Now, remove the pan from the heat, remove all children to a safe
distance and launch that cake to the sky. I accept no responsibility for the
consequences of your action. Alternatively, use a spatula to gently flip the
pancake, but that really is the cautious option isn't it? Is that how you want
to live your life?

Allow the pancake to brown on the other side, then slide it calmly onto
a plate. You are perfect, well done

Thursday, 7 February 2013

You might think that being a food judge means sitting around
tasting a bit of this and a smidge of that and then saying 'mmm yummy' or
'bleurgh, no thanks'.

How wrong you are.

If the food judging for the Free From Food Awards 2013 is
anything to go by, being a food judge means vehemently arguing your corner and
categorically stating why a certain product should be a winner/highly
commended/commended/shortlisted.

It definitely ain't civilised and genteel!

Compiling arguments ready for the food judging battle

At least it wasn't last Wednesday when I donned my mantle of
self importance, took up my clipboard and visited the HQ of Foods Matterwebsites to be a food judge.

It's the second time I've done it and it is so interesting.

Dairy Free Milk

The tasting is done 'blind' and you only have the manufacturers'
descriptions of their products, ingredients list and allergen information. So
from the table spread with anonymous - but tempting - goodies, you sample,
write notes and keep absolutely schtum so that you don't influence any other
judges.

And then when Michelle Berriedale-Johnson calmly
invites attendees to explain their reasons for short listing/commending etc, the gloves come off, all hell
breaks loose and brown stuff is definitely heading for the fan.

Is Sarah Jane Evans picking up those knives ready to throw them?!

In the red corner someone is arguing strongly on nutritional
grounds!

In the blue corner someone else is advocating a product
because it will add choice and interest to a restricted Free From market!

And from the eye of the storm Michelle listens, calls to order repeatedly and in the end gets stern and tells us to make a damned decision 'coz
we're running out of time and we still have the chocolate tasting to do.

Oddly, the mention of chocolate tasting speeds the process
up significantly.

So who were the winners of a coveted Free From Food Award
yellow label?

Well, there was...

Ha ha. I'd have to kill you.

The shortlist will be announced on 20th February, 2013 and the presentation of the awards is on April 16th, 2013. (Visit the Free From Food Awards site for more
information.)

So all the decisions have now been made and it's far too
late to bribe me or try and change my mind.

It's always a good time to make...

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Pig is feeling the lurve...

‘I've been cooking your recipes for 2 years and you are my God, Guru, Oh Great One...down here in New Zealand we eat one of your recipes at least once a day.’Diane, New Zealand

"Thank you so much for this recipe. I'm a total baking novice (I had to buy everything, right down to measuring spoons and scales to make these), but I really wanted to be able to make something for my my egg/dairy-free daughter while she was home for Christmas. These came out so well when I was having a practise run that I actually took one in a tiny cake tin to Heathrow to meet her! I made them many times while she was here, including for Christmas breakfast, and when she was leaving I made them again to take back to the airport with us. They were like little beacons of love, with added chocolate!" Anne

Hi Pig! Just wanted to share that although we've had the fab news my boy can now eat cooked egg as an ingredient and I'm baking like a crazed Mary Berry on steroids, he still is adamant that CAKE OF SUCCESS is the best cake in the world!!!! So I wont be throwing away the golden syrup or linseeds too soon! Lucy, Wales xxxx

'Great blog - your photos are gorgeous! Thanks for sharing all your great recipes with the world! :)'The Marketing Mama

'Dear Pig,I came across your blog after it was mentioned on mumsnet. I am practically crying.Thank you. Not only is there an overwhelming richness in terms of foods and recipe variations but all of the stories too!Bless you XXX'Anon

'I made the bread rolls yesterday. They were fabulous. Is here an appropriate place to admit that I ate all six?'MommaloveUk

The great thing about your recipes is that they are designed for a busy mum. I can buy nearly all the ingredients at the supermarket and most of them seem pretty hard to get wrong. Your blog has saved me hours of frustration trying to adapt normal recipes, saved me tons of money in ingredients and saved my dog from type II diabetes I am sure :-) Anyway we are most grateful! Sam(via email)

'Hi, another new adept here... After being given your site info from my sister who's in England, I immediately searched your recipes for something to give a horde of 8-year-old boys coming to my son's birthday party. Your chocolate cupcakes were an absolute hit with everyone. Thank you!'Kevyn, Canada

'My partner and I made double batches of these [pittas] and ate them hot from the oven with hummous and they are FANTASTIC.'

Aliceone

'LOVE your blog - both the writing and the recipes! My little boy is dairy, egg and soya intolerant and yours is the only place I've found where I can browse recipes with gay abandon!'

Isla Kirk, UK

'This is seriously good crumble.'

Reader Vicki Groth's husband while eating Pear Crumble. He is clearly a man with Good Taste.